What aspects of Victorian society does Stevenson expose and explore in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?

The key theme throughout Stevenson's novel is the idea of duality within all human beings. Others see Dr Jekyll as a respectable and religious man: 'His face is open and bright'. Dr Jekyll 'had always been known for his charities' and he becomes more religious. These characteristics during the Victorian period made up a stereotypical respectable Victorian gentleman. However Stevenson shows through Dr Jekyll experiments that these men are often hypocrites because they hide parts of their lives behind this façade. In the book Mr Hyde is described throughout the novel as a horrible and evil man. He is described as a 'juggernaut' when he "trampled" the little girl in the street. Both "Fury" and "bones shattered" show that Stevenson made Mr Hyde's actions brutal in his portrayal. These descriptions of Dr Jekyll's evil side show how cruel and wicked it is. The contrast between the good and bad side suggests that Stevenson wanted to show that, in a sudden turn of anger or other emotion, we might do things that normally we would not do. These uncontrollable bursts may be what Stevenson represented as the transformation into Mr Hyde. The house that Dr Jekyll lives in also symbolically reveals this duality within its physical features. The location of the house is described as a 'tawdry neighbourhood', which indicates that Jekyll had an insecure hold on a higher-class living and respectability before even being involved with the experiment and potion. During the first chapter, the bars on the windows and the windows themselves are clean yet, as the story unfolds, they become 'dusty' and generally dirty. This could indicate that the evil side within Dr Jekyll is growing and taking hold. The description of the house shows the importance of appearance and reputation during Victorian times for people. However this usually was not the case. As you go through the novel you see that Dr Jekyll is clearly a hypocrite. When he talks about Mr Hyde pretends he is another person. 'I swear to God I will never set eyes on him again' and 'you do not know him as I do' are both quotes that clearly show his denial of Mr Hyde's existence. He knows this isn't the case and Mr Hyde is part of himself. If Dr Jekyll had no knowledge of Mr Hyde's doings he would not be a hypocrite yet Dr Jekyll is the one who wishes to carry on his high status life yet also wishes to indulge in his evil side secretly.

During the period before the novel was written, Charles Darwin had published his new theory about the evolution and development of humans. He said that apes had evolved over a long period of time and had evolved into humans. This idea was controversial and shook the medical and religious world. This led to many fears about evolution and the consequences of it. An idea called recidivism was developed: if apes can evolve forwards and become humans what if humans would evolve backwards and turn back to their animalistic nature. This is seen in Stevenson's novel as Mr Hyde is described with animal characteristics. 'Ape-like fury' is a phrase used to describe Mr Hyde as he beats Sir Danvers Carew to death. This could refer to the idea of recidivism and that Mr Hyde is regressing to his animalist actions. The terrible events Mr Hyde commits are not in spiteful or emotional bursts but are random acts. This suggests that Stevenson is addressing the contrast in intelligence and conscious between humans and animals. Animals don't need a reason to kill and have no manners. Stevenson shows the uneasiness in Victorian times towards new ideas and theories. They upset the balance of society as well as religiously.

During this period of history people use rational thoughts to explain things. Supernatural events were laughed at or swept under the carpet. Many people couldn't stand the thought of supernatural things going on. Mr Utterson is said to be a "lover of the sane and customary sides of life". Mr Enfield and Mr Utterson never say Dr Jekyll's name when they think Mr Hyde is blackmailing him "they walked in silence" then after Mr Enfield says, "Let us make a bargain never to refer to this again. In The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Stevenson tries to convey the reluctance of people to accept that supernatural things are happening even when no rational explanation can be found. When Mr Utterson finds all the servants in a room all afraid he gets angry with them when he knows that something is wrong. These actions all show that rational thinking always comes first in Victorian society.

In conclusion, Stevenson created a mystery story that is 'haunting, sinister and profound'. He carefully used the characters, plot and setting to show the many characteristics of the Victorian society he was living in. When Stevenson portrayed duality within people he tried to emphasis that we all have a darker side within ourselves. All humanity is like Dr Jekyll, trying to keep a Mr Hyde or evil side under control. Even though Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the Victorian era the idea of duality is still significant in modern times. During Victorian times, people feared scientific progress by scientists if it was not controlled. Yet curiosity has always been a characteristic of humanity. This can relate to Dr Lanyon and Dr Jekyll's experiments. They were performed without any regulations and rules and therefore became dangerous. This conflict of ideas has been discussed in many books and other media such as Frankenstein. This conflict didn't just occur during the Victorian era, as science progressed so did the occurrence of new and controversial ideas. Cloning has been a highly published discovery because it was potentially incredible yet was also controversial. People believed that being able to 'copy' a human life is immoral and religious groups thought it was against god. This clash of thinking happened when genetics was being developed. Designer babies and curing hereditary diseases have been in the news recently and has caused great controversy. Religious groups thought it was against god as he creates life, and humans modifying life is wrong. Robert Louis Stevenson was writing about things that affected society when he was alive. His novel is so popular because the points he made are still relevant to society anytime and this is what makes this book great.

Year 10 English Coursework

Shaun Packiarajah

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